This invention relates to a hanger apparatus that is mountable on a door, frame, wall, hinges, and the like and, in particular, to mountable hanger apparatus in which the support arms can swivel or rotate independent of each other and a kit of parts therefore.
Individuals are often searching for additional space in their homes to hang articles of clothing (such as coats, towels and other articles) due to the lack of closet space or overcrowded closets or simply for organization or ease of access in a specific location.
Many prior art devices designed for attachment to or supported by door hinges for the placement and storage of articles have been proposed. Early devices were designed to be clamped onto hinge pins of the hinges of doors for supporting storage and holding devices such a clothes drying racks, as evidenced by U.S. Pat. No. 2,595,521 to Hanson. However, as shown in the Hanson structure, the clothes drying rack was only useful in supporting small articles. A more recent device shown by U.S. Pat. No. 2,684,225 to Johnson is designed to be clamped on the ends of door hinges for support of an elongated rod which has a plurality of support racks extended therefrom for supporting clothes hangers, shelves, tie racks, and other appliances and devices. However, the Johnson device is designed to be attached to the door hinge by clamping a support bracket, shown in FIG. 2, around each end of the door hinge pin, and, therefore, cannot support very much weight.
A still further device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,175,696 to Milbourne, which replaces the door hinge pin itself with an extended end portion of a support frame. Simplified versions of door hinge pin supported devices are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,270,802 to Kristensen and U.S. Pat. No. 3,044,630 to Szabo.
Although each of the foregoing prior art devices discloses article hangers and article storage devices designed to be supported by or as a replacement for door hinge pins to store articles behind a door, each of the prior art devices presents certain drawbacks to their use. For example, the Hanson and Johnson devices cannot support any significant weight, due to the fact that they have been designed to clamp over the ends of the door hinge pins. The device disclosed by Milbourne cannot support a great amount of weight, due to the fact that the longitudinal axis of the main support bar is spaced a great distance from the longitudinal axis of the hinge pins thereby reducing its rigidity. The early prior art devices of Kirstensen and Szabo present small singular hook devices that only provide for a minimal amount of storage for support of a minimal number of articles.
One solution to the need for extra hanging space is disclosed in my previous U.S. Pat. No. 4,721,212 entitled xe2x80x9cModular Article Support Unitxe2x80x9d issued on Jan. 26, 1988. This patent discloses a modular article support unit comprising an elongated tubular member adapted to be removably attached to the hinge pins of a door by means of adjustable brackets. Said elongated tubular member having a plurality of holes along the length thereof for removably attaching several different types of support devices such as coat hooks, towel racks, bulletin boards, and mirrors. While this invention has adequately served the need for hanging space for several years, there are some disadvantages with the same. For example, the modular article support unit must be mounted in a fixed location, i.e., in the hinges of a door. This limits an individual""s ability to locate the support unit in any desired location. Further, the support devices attached to the support unit are likewise limited in that they are fixedly mounted thereto.
Another solution to the need for extra hanging space is disclosed in another patent of mine U.S. Pat. No. 6,196,398, entitled xe2x80x9cHanger Apparatus and Method of Mounting the Samexe2x80x9d issued on Mar. 6, 2001. The hanger apparatus comprises two end poles each having an angled mounting bracket attached thereto. Mounted between each end pole is a plurality of middle poles or spacers and a plurality of hanger bars pivotally mounted between the end poles and middle poles. The angled brackets of the end poles are situated in such a manner to allow flexibility and ease in mounting the hanger apparatus in a door jam or door frame at any location along the door frame and along either side of the door frame without interfering with the use of the door. The angled brackets further allow the hanger apparatus to be mounted to a wall. This hanger apparatus is flexible in mounting, as well as easy to mount. The hanger apparatus also has independently movable hanger bars. Although this hanger apparatus serves the user well, one drawback is that it contains a multitude of parts for the user to assemble.
The foregoing problems are solved and a technical advance is achieved in an illustrative embodiment of mountable hanger apparatus and a kit of parts therefore of the present invention in which the number of parts needed to be assembled is advantageously reduced over that of its predecessor. Furthermore, the direct interconnection of the hanger apparatus segments provides a sturdy construct in which the article support arms can swivel or rotate independent of each other. The mountable hanger apparatus comprises an elongated member have a longitudinal axis, a first end segment, at least one intermediate segment (preferably two or more), and a second end segment. Advantageously, all of the segments are directly interconnectable both longitudinally and rotatably along the longitudinal axis with an end portion of a remaining one of the segments. This advantageously eliminates the need for separate interconnecting parts of the prior art devices and maintains the structural integrity of the hanger apparatus, while permitting at least the intermediate segments to swivel or rotate about the longitudinal axis independent of the end segments.
A support arm is fixedly attachable to each intermediate segment and radially extendable from the longitudinal axis for hanging various articles thereon. A support arm can be fixedly attached to each of the first and second end segments as well.
A first mounting bracket is attachable to the first end segment and has a first portion for affixing preferably and rotatably about a hinge pin of a door hinge. Although, the first portion of the first mounting bracket can be readily adapted for attachment directly to a door, window, frame, wall, and the like.
A second mounting bracket is attachable to the second end segment and has a first portion, like the first mounting bracket, for affixing preferably and rotatably about an other hinge pin of an other door hinge. Most often the hinges of a door are in vertical alignment, which allows for the elongated member of the hanger apparatus to be swiveled or rotated about the vertical axis established by the door hinge pins. This advantageously permits the mountable hanger apparatus to be rotated or swiveled so as not to interfere with the use of the door to which it is attached. As before, the first portion of the second mounting bracket can be readily adapted for attachment in concert with the first mounting bracket directly to a door, window, frame, wall, and the like.
As a result, the mountable apparatus of the present invention can be directly interconnected, whereby each of the intermediate segments and an accompanying support arm are advantageously rotatable about the longitudinal axis of the elongated member independent of the end segments when each of the end segments is attached to, for example, a wall, door, frame, hinge, and the like.
To facilitate the direct longitudinal interconnection of the segments, one end portion of each interconnectable pair of end portions has an outside cross-sectional dimension for insertion into a passageway in the other end portion of the interconnectable pair of end portions. This is advantageously manifested when each of the segments of the elongated member comprises a tubular member having a wall, a passageway extending longitudinally therethrough, and accompanying inside and outside cross-sectional dimensions such as, for example, the inside and outside diameters of the nominally sized tubular member. At least one end portion of an interconnectable pair of end portions of interconnectable segments has either an enlarged cross-sectional dimension such as an enlarged inside diameter larger than the outside cross-sectional dimension (outside diameter) of the interconnectable pair to rotatably receive the other end portion of the pair in the passageway of the at least one end portion. Alternatively, the at least one end portion of an interconnectable pair has a reduced cross-sectional dimension such as a reduced or swaged outside diameter that is smaller than the inside cross-sectional dimension (inside diameter of the tubular member) to rotatably receive the at least one end portion of the pair in the passageway of the other end portion.
In a simple and cost effective form, one end portion of each interconnectable pair of an elongated tubular member has a reduced outside diameter for insertion into the passageway of the other end portion of an interconnectable pair. From a manufacturing standpoint, the elongated member of the mountable hanger apparatus is formed from a plurality of tubes having nominal inside and outside diameters of which one end of each tube, except the bottom tube, is swaged to a smaller outside diameter for insertion into the passageway of an unswaged end portion of another tube. Advantageously, the interconnected end portions of a pair of tubes provide for direct longitudinal interconnection without the need for additional interconnecting parts and that is rotatable about the longitudinal axis of the elongated member.
In another aspect of the invention, a portion, preferably horizontal, of each mounting bracket has an opening therein for insertion of a door hinge pin therethrough for pivotal attachment to a door hinge. Each mounting bracket is preferably L-shaped and has another portion, preferably vertical, having a slot therethrough for inserting a fastener therethrough and attaching the mounting bracket to an end segment. The slot in one or both of the brackets advantageously permits the hanger apparatus to be mounted on a pair of door hinges that can have a wide range of spacing therebetween.
For mounting the hanger apparatus on other than a pair of hinges, each of the mounting brackets each includes first and second sections having a predetermined angle therebetween in a range from 30 degrees to 150 degrees.
The present invention also includes a kit of mountable hanger apparatus parts as previously and hereinafter described.
In another aspect of the present invention, the interconnectable parts of the hanger apparatus are interconnected for affixing to at least one of a wall, door, frame, hinge and the like.